


Lured

by Haberdasher



Category: Elsewhere University (Webcomic), Pokemon GO
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-02
Updated: 2017-11-02
Packaged: 2019-01-28 07:41:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 861
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12601620
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Haberdasher/pseuds/Haberdasher
Summary: One Elsewhere University visitor’s assessment of what playing Pokemon Go on campus is like.Inspired by https://elsewhereuniversity.tumblr.com/post/167018509397/dont-play-pokemon-go-at-eu-that-late-night-lure





	Lured

Okay, so I’ve played Pokemon Go a lot of places- and I do mean a LOT- but probably the weirdest stuff I’ve seen while playing it all happened at Elsewhere University when I went and visited my cousin there for a few days.

The good news is the campus is loaded with stops and gyms. No worrying about filling up your inventory there. And the competition’s not bad, either, especially given the sheer density of gyms- I got there and the gyms were mixed pretty well, I turned them all blue in a couple hours, and all but one were still there when I left four days later. I’m guessing maybe a former student was really into Ingress, but they’ve graduated, leaving a lot of stops behind but nobody who still actively plays on campus.

That might explain why some of the stops/gyms are of things that aren’t actually there, too- construction and whatnot in the few years since they left, maybe. Though some of the descriptions for those nonexistent places made me want to check them out... wish I could think of an example, I should’ve gotten screenshots while I was there...

Anyway.

The first weird thing? Some of the stops and gyms kept changing.

I’m not talking normal changing, the occasional adding of a pokestop or turning a stop into a gym. I know what that looks like. I’m talking there was a stop in one spot for two days, then it was gone on the third day, then on the fourth day it came back but it was a gym. This isn’t normal Niantic glitchiness, this is some truly next-level glitchiness. I’d guess that it was the fault of some hacker, but if they care enough to hack the server like that, why don’t they care enough to take over all the gyms on campus???

It got me a gold gym somehow though- it said I kept a mon in “The Library” for over a month, even though I only remember the library being a stop, not a gym- so I guess I’m not complaining, lol.

The second weird thing is that for the most part, there was no pattern to the mons I found there. I mean, sure, there were Rattata and Pidgey all over the place, but there really weren’t any region-specific patterns. Like, California you get a lot of Fire and Ground mons, up north you get Ice-types more, cities and small towns draw from a bit of a different pool... but Elsewhere? All over the damn place.

The one exception here is the river. Let me tell you, that river is a goddamn godsend. Like most bodies of water, you walk alongside it, you get lots and lots of Water mons throwing themselves your way. I caught two shiny Magikarp just walking laps on the side of that river- I don’t know if the rates are higher for some reason or if I was just super lucky, but... damn. Wish I could go back for the Magikarp candy alone if nothing else.

One more weird thing before I go: though I checked Pokemon Go a lot while I was there (if you couldn’t guess that already, lol), I only ever saw a lure up once. (Would’ve put some up myself but I was all outta coins at the time.)

And that was, of all times, near midnight on a Tuesday night.

I was chilling in my cousin’s dorm room, playing Go while shooting the shit because her dorm was a stop so might as well, and I saw a lure pop up at a stop not too far from the dorm. It was one of those weird statues, I think- might’ve been one of the stops showing something that doesn’t exist anymore. Doesn’t really matter I guess.

I started to explain to my cousin- if anyone from Elsewhere happens to be reading this, she apparently goes by “Snowflake” there (don’t even get me started on Elsewhere’s weird-ass student traditions, lol)- and she grabbed me by the arm and said, “No. Don’t go.”

I tried to pull away, reassure her that it’d be fine, but she looked at me with a weird look in her eyes and said, “Don’t go out there. It isn’t safe.”

And something in the tone of her voice made me think of those stories I heard- I think we all heard, really- back when the game just came out and tons of people were playing it, stories where someone put up a lure in the middle of nowhere and then robbed or kidnapped the people who came to it.

Now, I don’t know if there’s any truth to those stories, but right then and there, I wasn’t willing to risk it.

So I didn’t get to see what was at the lure. Sorry to disappoint.

I caught some pretty neat stuff just walking around the campus grounds, though- Cyndaquil, Pinsir, a couple Wobbuffet...

So, all in all, if you’re thinking of playing Go at Elsewhere, go for it. I’d go back there in a heartbeat myself. Just... be aware that things are going to be a little different there.


End file.
